Saturday 1st
BBC4 - Happy Birthday OU- 40 Years of the Open University - "In 1969 change was in the air. Man stepped on the moon and Britain launched a revolutionary new kind of university - one where the lectures were televised and the students could study at home. It was greeted with scepticism, both by politicians and academics, but went on to become a much loved, and often spoofed, British institution.
The Open University (or OU) is now forty years old, and Lenny Henry tells its story and reveals how The OU changed his own life. Featuring contributions from Sir David Attenborough, Myleene Klass and Anna Ford."
Sunday 2nd
BBC2 - Man On Wire - "Documentary based on Philippe Petit's autobiographical book To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers.
In August 1974, French wire-walker Philippe Petit spent nearly an hour walking, dancing, kneeling and lying on a wire which he and his friends had strung in secret between the rooftops of New York's Twin Towers. Six years of intense planning, dreaming and physical training fell into place that morning.
Already an accomplished wire-walker, Petit had caught sight of an article about the planned construction of the Twin Towers while in a dentist's waiting room in 1968, and at that moment an obsession was born. He spent every waking moment since that day plotting the details of his walk (which he called 'le coup') and gathered a team of people around him to assist in the planning.
Petit's preparation was expert, thorough and top secret: he took precise measurements and even aerial photographs to help him construct models of the rigging; learned about the physical effects of the wind on the swaying of the buildings; even created fake ID cards and spied on office workers to plan how best to gain access to the towers without arousing suspicion. On that August morning, his dream was realised.
Using contemporary interviews, archival footage and dramatic reconstructions, the film tells the story of this extraordinary feat, and also of Petit's previous walks between the towers of Notre Dame in Paris, and of the Sydney Harbour Bridge."
Monday 3rd
BBC2 - The Trouble with Girls - Jailbirds 1/2 - "Britain's young women are committing nearly 40 per cent more crimes than six years ago, and they're beginning to catch up with boys in the violence and theft rates. Filmed over six months, this observational documentary tells the stories of two of the young women behind these statistics, whose lives are stuck in the criminal justice system.
20-year-old Shona from Doncaster and 17-year-old Abbie from York have both been arrested dozens of times and imprisoned three times each. We meet them as Shona is coming to the end of her probation period, and when Abbie is released from a Young Offenders' Institute and moves into a hostel. Both girls want to go straight and sort their lives out, but it's not as easy as either hope. Abbie's drinking and partying lifestyle means that within days of her release she's breaching her electronic tag order and missing appointments with her Youth Offending Team. Shona, briefly free of the criminal justice system, is soon shoplifting again with her best friend Jodie.
Over the months, it becomes clear that binge-drinking and drug-taking, trips to court, and packing for prison have become a normal way of life for Shona and Abbie. Both are given second chances to turn their lives around and seem happier for it, but good intentions quickly unravel and the prospect of prison looms large again for these girls.
While Shona and Abbie may seem tough on the surface, between them they struggle to cope with difficult relationships with their parents, self-esteem, homelessness and the reality of job-hunting with a criminal past. Sometimes they wonder whether life in prison is a preferable option to life on the outside."
More 4 - Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan - "An urban renewal initiative set on improving the town of Castleford, West Yorkshire, is the subject of a major new series beginning in August: Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan.
The last five years have seen a series of different projects across the town, including the design of a new town square, the creation of several new facilities for local children and the design and build of a major new footbridge.
What's unusual about the project is that it was founded by Channel 4 Television, local community and civic groups and Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. Thousands of local people were involved in setting the project's agenda, and the design and the delivery of individual schemes. Important new work was commissioned from national and international designers and artists. And the initiative has been credited with leveraging over £200m of additional new investment in to the town.
Because of the innovative way in which it was designed, its extensive involvement of local people and its success in creating a clear, unified platform for the economic development of the town, Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan has won extensive praise for its best practice in urban regeneration. The project has also attracted international interest and praise. Progress so far has been discussed and highlighted at events in China the United States, Russia and Europe."
Wednesday 5th
More 4 - Dispatches: The War Against Street Weapons - "Last year, as chair of Channel 4's Street Weapons Commission, Cherie Booth QC said that the use of guns and knives among young people had become so widespread that she feared for the safety of her own children. Since then, the police and government have taken steps to deal with the problem. But are they doing enough?
To answer that question, Cherie joins police patrols on Britain's toughest streets, talks to young offenders behind bars, and visits a pioneering scheme combating Glasgow's violent gang culture.
The Street Weapons Commission Report - published in 1998 - set out a series of practical recommendations about what could be done to tackle the problem of street weapons in the UK. But one year on, the problem hasn't gone away and Cherie feels passionately that more must be done."
Thursday 6th
ITV 1- Real Crime: The Tesco Bomber - "For six months the largest supermarket in the country and its customers were the targets of a letter bomb campaign, which prompted the biggest, most secretive investigation Dorset police had ever mounted as officers tried to catch the bomber trying to extort millions of pounds from Tesco. In this programme, the police officers who worked on the case explain the difficulties they faced in tracking down the bomber and the tactics used to prevent him in carrying out his threats. In September 2000, John Purnell, then Director of Security at Tesco, received a phone call from a Bournemouth newsagent who had discovered a photocopy of a threatening letter addressed to Tesco on the shop photocopier. Signed Sally, the letter demanded the company pay the author using Tesco loyalty cards he wanted the supermarket to give away in every copy of local paper the Daily Echo, which had a circulation of roughly 50,000, to avoid a letter bomb campaign.... "
Friday 7th
BBC 1 - Panorama: Smugglers' Tales - "With compelling first-hand accounts, Panorama reveals the endless game of cat and mouse between prisoners determined to get their fix and officers equally determined to keep drugs out of their jails.
For the first time, visitors are caught on camera passing drugs to their nearest and dearest with hands as fast as any magician.
With exclusive access to a Category A jail, reporter Raphael Rowe hears from inmates and officers as well as from smugglers, mules and even a corrupt prison officer, fresh out of jail himself after being caught taking in drugs in return for money."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This applies to staff members at the University of Gloucestershire only. Any recordings made are to be used only for educational and non-commercial purposes under the terms of the ERA Licence.
No comments:
Post a Comment